User blog:Dio Buccaneer/So Far And Beyond- Werewolf Revolution Arc Part 2.5 - Werewolves As Enemies The Sequel
Ahoy my noble readers! This is Dio Buccaneer and I welcome you to Part 2.5 of So Far And Beyond! This is a different case than the rest as I will be addressing the things that I like about the Werewolves which I left out of Part 2. I recomment that you check out both Part 2 of these series and episode 3 of my Breakdown Analysis series for the full picture. Anyway, let us begin. To start us of: their appearence. Many complains we hear about them not looking like what we would assume a Werewolf would look like. I say that is a good thing. Unlike vampires who get different backstory, powers, appearence and lore, Werewolves get only the curse or choice and the full or half wolf variations. Noblesse changes this by making them look more like humans with a bit of fur in their torso and legs (the amount varies though to as far that extends and some have hair growth too). This is a more unique design and takes inspiration from Super Saiyan 4 from DBGT (arguably one of the few things that GT did right). They end up resembling more a generic beast-man rather than a traditional Werewolf as there are zero physical characteristics that say wolf more than bear or lion for example. If they were introduced as Werebears for example, then no one would butt an eye cause none of them look anything more specific. That makes their culture their only defining wolf-like characteristic. How cool is that? They treat themselves as WereWOLVES because it was their choice! It is kind of deconstructive as it takes the Werewolf idea and boils it down to its concept. What is that makes the Werewolf a Werewolf to the pop culture Human? Is a wolf-like appearence and the tropes that the movies taught us the only way to look at something and consider it a Werewolf? I think that when they made the wolf their species wide totem instead of something else and developed moves and fighting style based on it instead of having an appearence that said "Werewolf" was while making less recognisable at first glance, it made them much deeper as a culture and added some tradition to a species that pop culture made very same-ish as the cursed or the barbarian beasts. Before adopting fascism as their type of goverment, they had a much more wolf pack-like struture and that could be seen in many ways. They looked out for each other, they wanted to expand their hunting ground against other packs (Nobles) for the prey (Humans) and they listened to their leader (who was elected as the best fighter) even if it went against their wishes (though Muzaka broke this by being a lone wolf and without a head they turned to the guy who wanted what they wanted and was the closest thing to a Lord). The similarities are there and my inner culture geek is very happy at the thought of a lone early Werewolf being inspired by the wolves and leading to the development of the first wolf-like aura technique. It is just much more interesting than someone looking at the mirror and saying "Dude, I look like if my dog had sex with my mom". The symbolism and themes are also GREAT. The wolf was always a symbol of both savagery and (funnily enough) nobility. They have a showing of both. Kentas and Lunark symbolise nobility as they like their fights fair, their people happy and their killing to a minimum. Sadly their co-patriots are having none of that. Representing savagery, the rest of the Warriors are, to say a bit unhinged would be an understatement. Willing to sacrifice those deemed weak, to conquer the world when they barely run a country, fight in a war with shaky allies and with a ruler off his kite, these Werewolves are a clear reference to Nazi Germany. Now it is a bit overplayed to compare someone to a Nazi but the parallels are so many and so obvious if you know history that it has to have been on purpose. They sacrifice the weak and the "undesirables" even when they are capable of work : in Nazi Germany, if you lost your leg fighting for your country, you were reduced to a beggar and if you were an undesirable you were sent to be experimented upon the same way the traitors and the weak are. Power given to those that cannot handle it and population reduced when both workers and soldiers are needed: many Nazis were given power and did not know how to use it letting missions such us the bombing of London and the invasion of Soviet Union fail while capable Jewish workers and business owners were slaughtered and replaced by Germans who did not know the trade they were given or could not sustain it during a time of war due to sanctions against Germany and the loss of working population to the war effort and the camps vs the sacrifices of the weak Werewolves and the empowerment of underperforming Warriors. Thinking that they can take the world by underestimating their opponents while overestimating themselves: thinking that the Soviets and the English are a few attacks away from collapsing completely while having run out of supplies themselves meant that should neither collapse immediately, they were screwed as both ended up attacking instead of just one vs the Werewolves attacking Lukedonia, losing and kidnaping a member of the RK which brings both the Noblesse 's faction and the Lord 's to attack at the same time while your Warriors underperform or found a new weakness that cripples them. Shaky allies: Italy lost to Greece and had to be bailed, delaying the plans to right about the Russian Winter vs sending the Elders and other Union members against people you can't hope to match. A leader who is inept: Hitler micromanaged attacks such as that on Soviet Union despite having no fighting experience vs a guy who thinks that strength alone can win him a war and started fights with everyone at the same time. And let us not forget treachery, inspiring distrust amongst your troops leading to desertion: that guy who informed the Soviets about an incoming attack during the invasion or things such as "Operation Valkyrie" and guerilla Warfare vs making two of your best Warriors bring an invasion alongside an even stronger one as well as others that can do a number to your forces while waiting for retribution from an other country. The similarities are many but the themes do not end there. Again it shows that power granted and power earned is vastly different and while a good head start might help, hard work will win in the end. Then there is Maduke 's transformation. While this risks going against what I said earlier, I think it looks great from a symbolism standpoint. He is the most animalisticaly savage as he follows his desires without care. He is the corruptor who led the pack astray, took things farther than he should (going full beast vs just a little thus embracing the extreme) and considering that he thinks he can take on everyone means he lost his mind and does not think ahead. He is more of a savage animal than anyone before him. People complain about the lack of care for the weak displayed by everyone and especially Maduke but since a BIG part of Fascism is the expendability of the weak and how they must be sacrificed for the strong, it ties really well. Maduke did not care about those that were defeated because in his eyes they were weak and in his eyes he is the only one who is not. You can say that by taking the appearence that the Humans thought Werewolves to have, he became the monster we thought the Werewolves were. The real world influences make it feel more real. In the end, while the Werewolves of Noblesse might not be the best antagonists, they are quite packed with deep themes and that makes them as a species much more unique and interesting adorations in my opinion. Alright guys, that was it. This was So Far And Beyond with Dio Buccaneer. This was Part 2.5 of my series on this arc and part 3 will be uploaded when it is finished. And remember... Live nobly and take care, everyone! Category:Blog posts